Yeah yeah yeah, I know. Two months, where've I been? WORKING. I got a job in a library and SO MANY HOURS, I love it dearly but there's not much time for anything else :O

I have deleted and rewritten and scrapped and rewritten this chapter so many times, I give up. I only need it to bridge to the bit I want to do, so have the bare bloody bones of this thing so I can finally move on!

Any outstanding reviews I'll reply to in the next chapter, I'm hungry

Bradley fell asleep on the way home. Louisa decided to leave him in his pram, to not disturb him in transition to his crib. Lil' Beastie sprung from the basket and scampered off to Louisa's room, whirring and whistling happily.

Leo tip-toed to the kitchen, inching the door to almost shut behind him. She could hear him whispering to himself, hear the gentle shushing of cupboard doors and the small taps of him placing things on the counter. She checked Bradley one final time, then hurried across the room on soft feet.

"What are you doin'?" she hissed, sticking her head round the door.

"Getting snacks," Leo replied equally quietly. He was wrestling with a packet of popcorn, determined to open it without rustling. Louisa tapped her fingers soundlessly on the door and he stilled, looking askance at her. "What are you doing?"

"Nothin'."

"Exactly. Go get my gift. Please," he added hastily at her pursed lips. "Pretty please, nothing but the utmost respect and adoration for you, you gorgeously terrifying woman." She said nothing, slipping from view without a word. Leo shook his head and returned to coaxing the popcorn open.

He wasn't sure what to expect from Louisa. Something wicked and sharp? Something sentimental, a painting or a drawing? Something in between? What would be in between? A sword with his name on it? He couldn't use a sword. Oh gods, what if she was going to train him? He had seen her wield a blade; she would skewer him in two seconds flat.

She was back by the time he had finished sorting the snacks into bowls. There was no sword, though she did hold something small. A box? Was it like her watch, something that turned into a sword? He should not be trusted with a sword. He was more likely to impale himself than damage anyone else.

She held it out to him, flat on her palm. Not a small box, but a small notebook held together by string.

"It's stupid," she repeated as he took it. On the front cover, she had written To my Valdez and then a smiley face. "I mean, it ain't… ain't like what you did, but…" He flipped to the first page, seeing a tiny envelope stuck to the page.

Puzzled, he checked the other pages, more envelopes in an array of colours. Her hands wavered over his, torn between showing him what he was looking at and taking it back. "Look, look, it's…" She returned him to the first page and lifted the flap of the envelope. A piece of paper had been tucked inside. At her hesitation, hands clenching into fists, Leo wriggled it free.

"A coupon?"

"No, no. A voucher. Uh…"

"Oh, I see!" Leo grinned. He put it back and checked the others, a bounce wriggling to the soles of his feet the more he saw. Thirty pages of thirty envelopes for thirty pieces of paper.

Some were vouchers. Others were handwritten notes. There were vouchers for takeaway food, for a cinema trip, for roller-skating, for video games, for the aquarium and for their beloved rage room. The handwritten notes consisted of other things— Dive, Mini Golf, Go-karting, Movie Night, Game Night, Pancake Place and, followed by a string of question marks, Dancing.

Louisa stuck her hands in her pockets. "Piper… sorta helped me. I wanted ta do somethin' nice for ya, seein' as you're always doin' somethin' nice for me, so…"

"A book of dates," Leo said. "You made me a book of dates." She nodded, cautiously studying his face. Leo laughed and kissed her nose. "I love it! No, seriously, I do! It's not stupid at all, don't say that."

"But—"

"I can't wait to take you dancing."

"Yeeeeah, I ain't makin' any promises, but… well, I'll try." A rosiness had crept into her cheeks and she suddenly couldn't meet his eye. Leo tipped his head this way and that, causing her to look down instead.

"You'll try dancing," he said, "for me?"

"Yes," she muttered, his smile luminous as the sun in her peripheral. "If you can… do everythin' you've done for me, then I can at least try dancin'." She made a face, displeased, but Leo recognised the look in her eyes, heart soaring. Her mind had been made up.

"Do I get to pick the dance?"

"Sure."

"Can-can."

"Fuck off."

"I want to wear one of those skirts! They look so swishy and fun." He mimed swinging said skirts, doing a horrible shuffle and kick that would have in no legal terms passed as the can-can, but he got the tune right and a smile out of her, so he chalked it up as a win.

He stopped dancing, swinging an arm around her waist to draw her close. "Thank you," he said, voice muffled by a kiss to her forehead. "Reckon Mellie would give me time off to go… roller-skating?"

"If you asked her nicely, maybe." She looked past him to the waiting tray of snacks. "You really don't think it's stupid?" He shook his head, quietening any further protest with a kiss.

"I can assure you I'll be cashing one in tomorrow."

"Aren't you workin'?"

"I'll call in sick."

"You can't call in sick to the company you own."

"Ah, that's the beauty of being the boss, you see. I can have as many sick days as I please."

"Mellie'd have your head."

"But she'll never have my heart," he enthused. "That's reserved for you and you alone, mi vida." She flushed crimson, mumbling unintelligibly. Leo mentally high-fived himself— cheesiness for the win! "Now, I believe we are watching Lilo and Stitch? Before our darling little munchkin wakes up. I did say I was stealing your popcorn, so you can have theeeeeeeeeee marshmallows?"

"Where's—?"

"Right here," Leo smiled, waving the toasting fork in her face. "I know my job when you have marshmallows and I can assure you, I take it very seriously." Flames cascaded through his hair, perfectly on cue.

"Good," Louisa said, still rather pink-faced. "What about—?"

"Smores?" Leo finished for her, producing a chocolate bar and some crackers from behind his back. To her, like magic, but to him, he had known they were on the counter all along, blocked from sight by himself. "The only thing I didn't manage to do for today was a good Stitch impression. I think I sound more like Gollum." She arched an eyebrow at him. "What?"

"Ya can't say that 'n' then not show me." She nodded solemnly. Leo cleared his throat in true showmanship style and straightened his spine.

"Ohana means family. Family means—"

"My precious," she growled in her own impersonation, snickering. "That was shit, Valdez."

"Yeah, I know. Maybe watching the film will help me improve?"

"I doubt it. Dibs on the remote."

"Bastard. I mean, of course, anything for you!"

Eyes of Violet 3 will be out next month as well, that's the other thing I've been working on. Y'all might need to buy the first two first though ;)